Soil temperature in Fort William, Scotland
Soil temperature
11.2°C52°F
at 6cm — germination depth
Holding steady over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 11.2°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.
Almost every UK and Irish lawn is a ryegrass and fescue mix, whether it was sown or turfed. We assume that, and use9°C as the seeding threshold.
I know what grass I have
The differences are small. Ryegrass is the quickest off the mark; bluegrass is the slowest and wants the warmest soil. Everything else sits between.
| Species | Soil temp | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Perennial ryegrasslikely yours | 8°C | 5–10 |
| Red / chewings fescuelikely yours | 8–10°C | 10–14 |
| Tall fescue | 10–12°C | 10–14 |
| Browntop bentColonial bentgrass | 10–12°C | 14–21 |
| Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrass | 12–13°C | 14–28 |
Soil temperature at 6cm in Fort William, Scotland is currently 11.2°C, and barely moving. That depth matters because it is where grass seed sits and where roots start working, and it lags air temperature by days — which is why a warm afternoon here tells you very little on its own.
Lawns in this area are typically perennial ryegrass with fescue, which is what most lawns round here are sown with. That blend needs the soil to hold above 9°C before seed germinates reliably. Seeding conditions are open — soil is 11.2°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.
None of the next 10 days are worth getting the mower out for. The other 10 are held back by wet grass or soft ground. As for the weekend: nothing doing. 0.1mm of rain falling. And nothing else in the next 10 days either.
Nothing in the current forecast for Fort William opens a sensible window. The ground reads as soft after 27mm rain over the last week, and that is usually what decides it at this time of year.
The next 10 days
Column height is how mowable the day is; the lighter band is the best stretch within it. The line is soil temperature at 6cm.
9°C — seeding
Soil at 6cm 12.9°C cooling to 12.4°C
Wednesday 2 September: Not worth it. No — ground waterlogged.
Wednesday 2 SeptemberConfident
No — ground waterlogged.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Marginal:Ground firmness
- Ground soft27mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.43
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light0 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Thursday 3 September: Not worth it. No — ground waterlogged.
Thursday 3 SeptemberConfident
No — ground waterlogged.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft33mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.69
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Friday 4 September: Not worth it. No — 0.5mm of rain falling.
Friday 4 SeptemberConfident
No — 0.5mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated40mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.51
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Saturday 5 September: Not worth it. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Saturday 5 SeptemberConfident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft53mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.46
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Sunday 6 September: Not worth it. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated54mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.48
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Monday 7 September: Not worth it. No — ground waterlogged.
Monday 7 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — ground waterlogged.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetrain 3 hours ago
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated91mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.36
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light13 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Tuesday 8 September: Not worth it. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated112mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.34
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground waterlogged.
Wednesday 9 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — ground waterlogged.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated101mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.25
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated95mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.23
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light3 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Friday 11 September: Not worth it. No — ground waterlogged.
Friday 11 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground waterlogged.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground saturated89mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.34
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light4 km/h
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.